Trump Speaks Out On Historic Criminal Trial: ‘I Want My Voice Back’

Challenging day

ABC News

On Tax Day, April 15, former President Donald Trump faced a challenging day. Trump created a historic moment by being the first ex-U.S. president to participate in a criminal trial.

Reclaiming the White House

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However, his social media posts indicated that he did not view this historic event as an accolade. Trump took to Truth Social before 6 a.m., claiming that the trials were merely a tactic by the Democrats to prevent him from reclaiming the White House in November, labeling it as “cheating.”

Cheating

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“The Radical Left Democrats are already cheating on the 2024 Presidential Election by bringing, or helping to bring, all of these bogus lawsuits against me, thereby forcing me to sit in courthouses, and spend money that could be used for campaigning, instead of being out in the field knocking Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the History of the United States,” he wrote.

Legal actions

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In his post, Trump referenced the multiple legal actions brought against him, although the trial commencing that day was not a civil lawsuit but a criminal prosecution. Trump is confronted with four such cases.

Felony charges

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg has accused Trump of 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records. This trial could potentially be the sole one among the four criminal cases against the ex-president to proceed before the November election.

Trump’s legal team

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Trump’s legal team has worked hard to delay the trial, to little avail, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, this case is the one with “the lowest stakes of the four prosecutions he faces,” the outlet noted.

Conviction

Fox News

In the event of a conviction, the ex-president may not automatically be sentenced to prison since the charges do not require imprisonment. However, as reported by The New York Times, he could potentially face a maximum of four years in such a scenario.

Trial

Fox News

The Times suggested that the trial, focusing on hush money given to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, “might alter the political scene leading up to Election Day.” Despite this, various surveys have indicated that a guilty verdict would likely have minimal impact on Trump’s backing.

Voters

Fox News

“Even if the Manhattan trial were to result in a conviction, many voters have indicated that it won’t impact how they’ll vote in November,” ABC News reported late Sunday. “A Quinnipiac University poll from March found that 55 percent of registered voters said a conviction in this case would make ‘no difference’ in how they voted in the presidential race.

Support Trump

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“Only 29 percent said they’d be less likely to support Trump — and that figure is composed in no small part of people who weren’t likely to vote for him anyway,” the outlet added. “Forty-nine percent of Democrats said the conviction would make them less likely to cast a ballot for Trump.”

Election Interference

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Nonetheless, Trump referred to the trial as “Election Interference!” Shortly after, Trump contended that the restraining order enforced by Justice Juan M. Merchan was a violation of his constitutional rights, specifically his presumed entitlement to freedom of speech as outlined in the First Amendment.

Crooked Judge

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“I want my VOICE back,” Trump wrote. “This Crooked Judge has GAGGED me. Unconstitutional! The other side can talk about me, but I am not allowed to talk about them! Rigged Trial!”

Attacking

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Trump seemed to be alluding to the directive from Merchan that mandated Trump to abstain from “attacking witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, and the judge’s family,” as reported by the Times.

Judge’s decisions

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The commencement of jury selection was anticipated on Monday, subsequent to the judge’s decisions on several other legal matters awaiting resolution in the case.
Acknowledging the difficulty, even the Times noted that securing an impartial jury will pose a significant challenge.

Advantage

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“Prosecutors have some advantage, as the jury pool is drawn from Manhattan, one of the most Democratic counties in America,” the Times noted. “Mr. Trump’s team will be looking for red needles in a blue haystack.”